I was a suburb kid, so I didn’t get to go to a lot of Caps games when I was young. But my buddy Johnny and his dad got great seats sometimes, and they’d bring me along once or twice a year. It was a rare thrill. Before we all got jaded and blasé about watching hockey, just getting tickets was a life-altering experience. And that’s where Shinny is in this strip– kicking off a multi-part story.

I swear to god we wrote this before the Eddie Money insurance commercial. Regardless: the ritual makes sense. You get tickets, you blast “Two Tickets to Paradise” on your tiny laptop speakers. That’s just tradition, right? It’s not just me, RIGHT?!